The acting, dialogue, and casting was about perfect for this material. The big Hollywood studios apparently wouldn't accept this script so Elmore Leonard had to go to Cannon (a.k.a., that company made all those horrible films in the Eighties). It has the feel of a low budget film, with a lot of rising stars, falling stars, people bumping into the camera by accident, and a director long past his prime, but it holds up pretty well. There's not one stereotypical L.A. landmark or establishing shot, the film is better than to try and look generic. Clarence Williams is a believably scary murderer, and the other villains equally repulsive and hateable in their own unique ways. If any character is underwritten, it is the protagonist and his wife, who just seem boringly bland and familiar, but that is sort of inevitable in these types of movies where everything hinges our needing to identify with the victim.The film is entertaining as any other genre piece of the era, by far one of the better crime dramas of the Eighties, and easily the best of Cannon's direct-to-video cheapos. I'd have liked it even better if it had stuck to its strong suit and went all in with its dark humor (as the film was flirting with the entire run-time but never committed to). The ending was kind of predictable, maybe other films have over-used the idea since but it doesn't date well. Seemed like a throwaway climax.

Roy Scheider is solid as a rock as self-made millionaire Harry Mitchell, one of those kinds of guys who seemingly has it all. But his indiscretion with young stripper Cini (Kelly Preston) has led to unexpected complications: a trio of bad guys with knowledge of his actions attempt to blackmail him. Harry decides to basically tell them to do something obscene to themselves and confesses all to his wife Barbara (Ann-Margret); he loves her enough to not want to damage her budding political career. So the three lowlifes up their game: they abduct Cini, torture and murder her (in a memorably disturbing sequence), and set things up to make it look like Harry killed her. So now Harry *definitely* can't go to the police. He then stubbornly sets about trying to solve the problem on his own.Co-written for the screen by Elmore Leonard, from his own novel, this is compelling every step of the way, with efficient direction by the legendary John Frankenheimer. Granted, it may not be to all tastes: some people may find it overly sleazy, or feel that the leading characters are just a little too cold, but it's fundamentally a good and twist laden story that is well told by Frankenheimer and a talented bunch of collaborators, including cinematographers Jost Vacano ("RoboCop" '87) and Stephen Ramsey. The lurid descent into the slimy universe inhabited by the villains gives the tale an effective edge; for one thing, ringleader Alan Raimy (John Glover) runs a porno movie theatre. At the very least, the villains are set up as being scummy enough that you just can't wait to see them get their comeuppance.Glover is simply perfect in his part, receiving strong support from a genuinely spooky Clarence Williams III as pimp Bobby Shy and an amusing Robert Trebor as pathetic worm Leo Franks, operator of a nude model salon. Also among the cast are the super sexy Vanity as nude model Doreen (she and Preston do show off a great deal of skin along the way), Lonny Chapman as Harry's lawyer Jim O'Boyle, and Doug McClure as politician Mark Arveson. Porn aficionados will note the appearances of stars like Ron Jeremy, Sharon Mitchell, and Jamie Gillis during the party scene.The film does admittedly go on a little long but it keeps its grip thanks to the acting and Leonards' enjoyably sordid tale.Eight out of 10.

Elmore Leonard died recently, and so I decided to watch this movie based on one of his novels. John Frankenheimer directed Roy Scheider and Ann-Margret in "52 Pick-Up", about an industrialist whose affair leads to severe consequences. It seems that the movie is simultaneously testing your willingness to watch a lot of nasty stuff and making you feel as if you want to watch ever more of it. Gross as a lot of it is, Frankenheimer's slick direction keeps even the most unpleasant scene relevant to the story. Mired as the characters are in a world of sleaze, there's sort of no nice way for the story to progress."52 Pick-Up" continues the string of serious movies in which Ann-Margret started appearing in the '70s ("Carnal Knowledge", "Tommy", "Magic"). No doubt she realized that it was time to move away from her sex kitten image. A really different role for her was the 2006 suspense thriller "Memory". Above all, "52 Pick-Up" is a movie that I recommend. It's definitely not going to be for everyone, but I liked it.

Elmore Leonard is the Shakespeare of film noir.His dialog is superb! You can't listen to the dorky dialog of TV shows after this. Leonard raises dialog to clever repartee, which very few writers can do! I taped 52 Pick-up years ago off TV and was looking at it again and now I must have the DVD, uncut and uncensored.You know the plot synopsis by now, but watch the electric interaction between the characters Mitchell, Raimy, Leo and Bobby. PROJECTOR ROOM: DAY I love the projector room scene where Mitchell and Raimy meet faceto face for the first time. The feigned innocence of Raimy is great. The dialog, the lighting, the sound track from the porno movie, and the projector clack, make for an great, great scene. A director's coup d'etatAnd the fact that Raimy is an accountant who goes over Mitchell's business books is a delightful touch in character. Mitchell's cleverness at derailing the blackmail plot is inspiring.In charge Mitchell, clever Raimy, whimpering Leo, tough Bobby...great characters. Leonard delivers every time! KUDOS!